HOW TO BE A RADIO PIRATE?

This section tells you exactly how to go ahead setting up your own

pirate radio with all the tips learned from bitter experience.

First of all here's a list of main things you'll need. So you want

to be a radio pirate? Read on...

What you'll need

A. A group of committed people who get on with each other and have

plenty of time and energy.

B. A programme, presuming you have something worth saying or

playing. You don't even need a studio to start off with. Just

borrow someone's stereo and a microphone and start making practice

recordings onto good quality cassette tapes.

C. A Transmitter. Ideally over 10 watt power, but 5 watt is fine

for local broadcasts, or when using an aerial with 'gain' . You

can't buy one over the counter in Britain, but here are some

alternatives:

I) Buy one from another pirate (beware of rip-offs).

II) Buy one over the counter abroad. In Italy for instance you

can get a high quality 50 watt transmitter over the counter for

Ł200. You can buy kits in Belgium, France, Netherlands, USA,

etc. You then have to smuggle it home.

III) Build your own. A hobbyist can build a low power FM

transmitter easily. Try to interest radio hams or dissident

engineers. It's almost essential to have at least one person in

your group with some technical know how.

IV) Get one built to your specification. There are a few

electronics engineers about who will build them for a reasonable

price.

D. Antenna. You can adapt a design yourself from an antenna

handbook (e.g. The 2 Metre Antenna Book). Or use one of our ready

made designs. Look out for aluminium tubing or struts which make

good building material.

E. Odds and ends. You'll need basic tools (soldering iron,

multimeter, SWR meter), a cheap cassette deck, probably one or two

good car batteries, a roll of co-ax cable for the aerial, a radio

to listen in on, etc. Also start reading Amateur Radio Handbooks

and all relevant writings.

VHF: Pros and Cons

First lets deal with FM (Frequency Modulated) broadcasting, which

is probably your choice. The advantages of FM are many. The

transmitters are small and quite cheap. Reception tends to be

either very clear or non-existent. Its excellent for music and for

recording off and can quite easily be adapted to transmit stereo

(impossible with AM). A major plus for the pirate is that its easy

to hide and transport the gear, aerials are comparatively small

and can be made collapsible. It's also possible to put in a

vehicle, even an bicycle and go mobile, albeit with a smaller and

changing reception area. The average 5 to 20 watt transmitter

would be in a metal box no bigger than 12" by 6" by 3" in size,

and weigh no more than 8 lbs with the rest of the gear (but not

including the battery, if you're using one), The aerial is not

only shorter but more efficient and of course more practical than

the long and tricky procedure for MW aerials. Also low power FM

transmitters ('rigs') can be tuned to slightly different

frequencies, on MW you're stuck on one, unless you get a new

crystal.

The disadvantage is that VHF-FM is essentially a 'line of sight'

communication, which means your reception area depends crucially

on the height of your aerial above large blocking objects. This is

no problem if you can get up on a hill, or a tower block but it

does restrict the choice of broadcasting sites, making you easier

to find and trap. With local broadcasting you have more choice of

sites. In very hilly area, unless you can get up on a mountain,

you'd better choose MW, also if you want to broadcast scattered

communities over a wide area. Distance covered with an FM rig

depends as how much height as on power. A 40 watt rig on a 15

story tower block should cover a 15 miles radius if there are no

blocking objects. A 4 watt rig should go 5 miles from the same

height but if you build a directional aerial with 'gain' you can

multiply that power many times. You don't really need a big

expensive and hard to build transmitter. Also don't assume a 100

watt rig is ten times as powerful as a 10 watt one, it doesn't

work like that.

To sum up, FM broadcasting is the ideal for the guerrilla or

community pirate, cheap, mobile and adaptable. another advantage

is that there's loads of room on the FM broadcasting band, it's

literally half empty. On MW its pretty crowded, and at night

you're likely to be blotted out by continental interference.

The Broadcasting Site (FM)

TOWER BLOCKS

In cities tower blocks have been an ideal answer for good coverage

and wide reception and are especially favoured by commercial

pirates (who often use a link transmitter from the studio to the

tower block so as to go live). A further advantage is that there

are usually electric sockets in the lift or heating rooms on the

roof, so you can just plug in provided your gear is so adjusted,

rather than lug car or lorry batteries about. This is 'Stealing

Electricity', of course. If you're caught broadcasting the

electricity company could bring this additional charge, though in

practice we've never heard of it happening. The advantage to

sticking in car batteries is that you can conceal your rig

anywhere on the roof, rather than having it right by the plug

socket, though in a surprise raid your aerial cable will lead them

straight to it anyway.

To get onto the roof of a tower block you need a crowbar, or

better, a key. The 'Fireman's keys' have to be standard for all

blocks, so once you have one you can get onto most roofs easily.

Try asking other pirates, or possibly a friendly caretaker or

fireman. Or you can break the door, steal the mortise lock, get

keys made up for it, then replace it, such keys may not fit all

roofs.

When on the roof BE CAREFUL (sudden gusts of wind can blow you

over the at this height!) and always wear soft shoes and keep

quiet. Lots of people have been busted simply because the tenants

below heard them and called the police. Its useful to dress like a

repair person, and claim if seen or challenged, to be a lift

mechanic. The main problem with tower blocks is that, if raided,

you can easily be trapped (see how to get away with it).

MEDIUM SIZED BUILDINGS

If you're a local station, or have a high power rig or an aerial

with gain (or if you're just testing) you don't need to be on a

tower block. Any building higher than most others will do, and you

can increase your height for instance by mounting your aerial on

top of high, well secured scaffold pole (note: there must be a

wooden or plastic section between the pole and the actual aerial).

The advantage of lower buildings is that you can multiply both the

available sites for broadcasting. You will have to switch sites as

often as possible. Also you will have more escape routes and 'bolt

holes' than on a tower block. Unfortunately this may also mean you

have to watch more potential approach routes by the police and

DTI, and you'll need more lookouts if you're planning to save the

gear when attacked.

BROADCASTING FROM HILLS

If your town or city has hills this is a good option, the higher

the better. You can use a piece of derelict or common land, or at

night you can use parks, cemeteries or even allotments. A better

option is if there are hills outside the built up area, then use a

field or wood away from houses. If you use the directional aerial

you can cover the city just as well. This was done by Andromeda

Radio, to good effect, they used to cover most of Manchester from

a high hill outside, using a mere 4 watt transmitter with

directional gain aerial. If you can get up into mountainous area

you're even better off and can adopt classical guerrilla tactics,

often see the enemy coming distances away, and be very difficult

to stop.

On a hill within the town or city use good lookouts, escape

routes, CB's etc. and have regular 'escape drills'. Best place for

aerial is a high, easily climbable tree. If its not too obvious

leave it up there and have a spare ready. An added problem with

hills is that you normally have to lug at least one car battery

about, which is terrible if you have to climb fences, ditches etc.

at night, something like a pram or shopping trolley can help. You

can't leave the batteries on site as they need re-charging for

your next broadcast. So mains electric is a big help if you can

run a lead from somewhere. Outdoors all your gear must be in

waterproof cases, or covered with a tent or tarp. Tents are good

if you can pretend to be camping. Take care also of yourself and

your group. Hot drinks, food, waterproofs, short shifts for

lookouts etc. are good ideas. It gets boring after a few hours.

CB's are excellent, but get ones with earphones if possible to

avoid noise.

If on a hill you can also use ordinary house, flat, squat or

derelict, and just set up your aerial as high as practicable on

the roof. Its better to get a place, by squatting or if you're

rich, by renting, specially as a broadcast site, no-one likes to

live under constant threat of the police storming in. In practice

you may have to use someone's house, then don't use it too often.

If you must use your own house DON'T leave dope, stolen goods,

false ID's or other naughties lying about. It is possible to run

your antenna cable from your house to the aerial on another roof,

and whip the cable off quick if they come, but this would only

work once, and you lose output power with every extra metre of co-

ax cable going to your aerial. More of this in the 'How to get

away with it' section. NEVER have your studio at the broadcast

site. They'll confiscate the lot, under the new laws.

OTHER POSSIBLE BROADCASTING SITES

FESTIVALS, especially large free festivals are an excellent and

common broadcast site. A small 4 watt rig will do fine. Set up on

a high ground in a tent or vehicle and invite the festival goers

to protect you from possible police attack, much more unlikely in

these circumstances. If possible make a live studio in a tent,

caravan or truck and get everyone involved. Try to get mentioned

in pre-festival publicity, or do your own, so people will bring

radios. This is pirate radio at its best.

DEMOS, especially long ones, like blockades for e.g. of Nuclear

Stations or War bases, can be equally worthwhile. In this context

the pirate can be perfect medium for discussion, information and

warnings of police movements, as well as for entertainment and

music.

BARRICADED SQUATS OR SQUATTED VENUES are another obvious and much

underused site for the guerrilla pirate, especially during big

meetings or gigs, which you can broadcast live from the roof. This

has been done successfully for instance in Amsterdam and Berlin.

OCCUPIED FACTORIES or industrial areas during strikes and disputes

provide an excellent and often missed opportunity for the more

political pirate group, and can provide vital communication for

mobilising, publishing and gaining support. There have been many

such opportunities in Britain over recent years.

SIT-INS and protest occupations are another good possibility,

which we don't think has been tried. Especially occupations of

high towers, buildings or pylons for publicity. But in this

situation capture is pretty certain, therefore a small disposable

transmitter would be ideal. A good strategy is for everyone to

deny using it, and to use any following trial for more publicity

e.g. on the lines that the army etc. and the police are already

hogging most of the airwaves.

'NO-GO AREAS' are a step up from occupied factories. We know for

instance that nationalist pirates broadcast from Free Derry and

parts of West Belfast when they were 'no-go areas' to the state.

Of course there are no true 'no-go areas' in Britain, but there

are plenty of inner city estates where the police rarely venture,

especially in the evenings in the riot session, for fear of

'concrete rain' or worse from the roofs. A high block on such area

could be an excellent site, especially if you can tip off the

local youth to lend a hand. Whenever major rioting begins large

areas are suddenly devoid of police, till they can group in

numbers and re-take the area. This is another opportunity for 'on

the ball' local pirates. By monitoring police radio, runners, and

phoned in reports such 'uprising radio' could be a brilliant aid

to the fighters on the streets though you would need good

security, disposable transmitter, quick getaway routes, disguised

voices etc.

LIBERATED ZONES! (Let us know if you find one!) Practically every

guerrilla or Nat. Liberation movement, be they right or left wing,

has their own pirate radios, which are often crucial influence in

such wars, broadcasting from freed zones or neighbouring

countries. But you're not likely to come across this in Britain.

INTERNATIONAL WATERS is of course a favourite site, but out of the

question for the small 'do it yourself' pirate.

How to set up your gear (FM)

BEFORE YOU GO

Before getting out you had best brief anyone, especially

newcomers, on what will or might happen. Talk about getting

caught, for instance have good excuses made up for being at or

near the site. If you are planning to give false names, for

instance, you'll need an address where someone will confirm you

live, otherwise you might have troubles getting bail if you were

arrested. In this case keep your first names the same to avoid

being caught out.

Make out a standard 'check list' of all you need, and go through

it before you get out. It's surprisingly easy to find yourself on

top of a tower block, or climbing some tree, only to discover that

your cassette deck lead is at home five miles away.

HERE'S A SAMPLE LIST OF THINGS YOU NEED

Transmitter (TX), TX main lead or 2 clip on battery leads

(large and well insulated), TX lead to cassette deck if

not attached, cheap cassette deck plus mains lead or 2 clip ons

and 6 volt bike battery, charged up 12 volt car battery if not on

mains, antenna (check you have butterfly bolts if collapsible),

the co-axial cable (with plug attached and clips or attached

to aerial), fused plug board (if on mains), programme tapes

(rewound to staring position), small FM radio receiver(s) to

monitor broadcasts, CB's for lookouts, plastic 'gaffer tape',

soldering iron and solder in ease of broken leads, torch, warm

clothes, munches, bus fare

ON THE WAY

Ideally you need four people, at least two. Carry the gear as

inconspicuously as possible, in holdalls or plastic bags. The

antenna is a problem. If it's a big long one make it collapsible

using butterfly nuts in assembly. Or try to keep it somewhere

close to the site. On arrival at the site, especially if you've

used it before, send an empty-handed scout ahead, to be sure the

police and DTI aren't waiting for you and all is clear. Check also

you're not followed.

SETTING UP

In the case of a tower block you should have been there beforehand

and have either a key or a broken lock to get straight onto the

roof. Lock the door quietly behind you. If there's two doors onto

the roof have access through both. Take your gear to a lift /

heating room and find a plug in wall socket (if on mains). Check

it works. Wear gloves when handling gear, and clean it regularly

with cloth and alcohol. They don't usually bother with fingerprint

evidence, but they might start. The antenna must be cleaned

regularly anyway for good transmissions. Set up your antenna as

high as possible, if possible on top of an extension pole or

length of scaffold pipe. Often there's a pole already, left by

earlier pirates. Attach the antenna securely, with bolts or strong

gaffer tape, to a length of wood, then the bottom of the wood to

the metal pole (if there). The antenna must NOT be touching or

blocked by metal. The co-ax cable can be soldered or bolted onto

the antenna, or attached with strong, rust free car battery clips.

The clips are recommended for fast dismantling and for testing and

developing antennas, mark clearly which goes where. The co-ax

cable should not be longer than absolutely necessary, you lose

power with every extra foot, and should be good quality and well

insulated. Your lookouts should already be on station, with

torches or CB's, one at the foot of the tower (preferably sitting

on a car or flat) and one on the roof. Keep low and quiet and wear

soft shoes. (In one court case Eric Gotts (head of DTI squads)

claimed he recognised an Our Radio member from the ground, 18

stories up, at night. The judge accepted his word.)

When the antenna is up securely, lead the co-ax back and plug or

screw in to the back of your transmitter . Now plug the TX to the

cassette deck keeping the two as far as possible apart, if

possible blocked by something solid, like a wall, to avoid

interference. Keep the audio lead well away from the power leads.

Interference between leads can often cause loss of power and / or

'Sprogs' (unwanted signals on the wrong frequency). You can go so

far as to block leads from each other with bricks.

Plug in the cassette deck and the TX to your plug board (or

connect to batteries) and switch on. If you have that facility

just switch on the exciter stage of the TX first for testing, no

need to alert Big Brother prematurely. Go on the other end of the

roof with your radio receiver and tune in. Then adjust the

modulation on your TX, in relation of other channels, to get the

best sound. If this is OK but there's unusual knocking or

crackling sounds try moving the cassette deck further from the TX,

or raise it above ground if possible. Try further separating or

screening the power lines from the audio lines.

You may well find that you have sprogs (harmonics or spurious

signals) all over the waveband. Check for this. If so check

reception with your lookout 100 yards away, normally such sprogs

disappear by that distance and you're OK. But if your signal is

still spread all over further away switch off and clear off. Your

TX is fucked up and needs difficult repair or tuning you can't do

on the site. If you find you're interfering with fire, ambulance

or pigs, stop, before they come after you. Most pirates are very

careful not to do this.

When all checks are OK, insert your programme tape, switch off,

and wait for the agreed time to begin. With practice you can

easily set it all up and test it in 10 minutes, but it's good to

allow a half hour and to be methodical and cool. Never, for

instance, switch on your TX without the antenna attached, you'll

blow it. The amp stage of your TX should get quite hot when

drawing the power , if not its not working. With bigger

transmitters you may need also a small electric fan to cool the

heatsinks on the power transistors. Once you're on air its good to

go and phone friends for reception reports further afield.

Broadcasting.... How to get away with it

KNOW YOUR ENEMY

On a tower block, in London, the DTI squads can tell where you

are, within 20 metres, less than 10 minutes after you switch on.

So they can bust you any time. In the case of new pirates the

procedure is to monitor you for a while (in case you're just

messing about) before busting you. It could easily be a few months

before your first attempted bust. If you play anything but

straight music they will record and keep all your programmes for

possible further use against you (though voice print's aren't used

in court). In other cities they are generally slower to get after

you. In smaller towns they don't have permanent staff so they have

to come specially, depending on your usual broadcasting time, so

switching your time is a big advantage.

The detection squads are now directed by the Home Office through

the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and are officially

responsible for stamping out 'radio interference'. They have re

cently been recognised and upgraded with fancy new equipment.

Their HQ is at Waterloo House by Waterloo Bridge and they have

several other fixed triangulation stations in London, for instant

tracking. They use also mobile detection vans and lots of unmarked

cars and have a depot in East London for vehicles and gear. We

don't know where they keep their extensive horde of stolen

transmitters prior to disposal. They also have their own radio

frequencies, they used to be (and still may be) using around 88

MHz, just off the commercial FM waveband.

The DTI squads are not supposed to arrest you, so they have to

bring the local filth along on busts, which makes them a lot

easier to spot and makes them less flexible, as they often have to

wait till the cops have the time free.

For large rich commercial pirates the game is to have plenty of

transmitters lined up, and not to try to save them if the police

and DTI raid. They often use remote links and can often switch on

and off using timers or radio signals, so they don't have to go

back and change tapes and no one need get caught in the act (but

recently the DTI have cracked this by raiding the 'live studios'

and nicking everyone and everything).

But for small community / political pirates with only one or two

transmitters its essential to save the gear if at all possible. At

the same time its now always cheaper to lose all the gear than to

get caught and pay the fines. Nowadays even for the small pirate

it may be more advisable to put energy into money raising and mass

producing cheap transmitters than into trying to save the gear

when they're hot on your trail (though you need to guard anyway

against the curious and rip-offs by other pirates.)

PRECAUTIONS

Don't walk and boast unnecessarily about your sites or studio.

Work on a 'need to know' basis from the start. One method is to

keep programme makers separate from your broadcasting team, tapes

can even be delivered to a 'dead letter drop' for instance. But if

you can really trust each other its better if everyone takes a

turn at broadcasting, otherwise the broadcasters can both get

pissed off and become a power elite ('I'm not transmitting this

crap!').

Don't, of course, broadcast your location, real names or

addresses. Don't give your phone number either, certainly in

Britain, the days of phone-ins and instant access to pirates are

numbered. If you're really into phone-ins, get a phone in a false

name at a temporary address or squatted flat (NOT your studio).

Tape the calls and check you're not followed there. For letters

use a box address (e.g. Wuppertal in Germany) and assume all mail

is read, or use a forwarding address. When travelling to sites

vary your means of transport.

The raid..... Saving the gear

A.) HIDING IT ON THE SITE

Some pirates have tried building the transmitter into walls,

parapets, roof, chimney stacks etc. You can conceal it under water

tanks, central heating or lift machinery. Better still have it

hidden in a legal or squatted top floor flat (possibly 2nd to top

would do) concealing your co-ax cable either up the side of the

building, by boring a hole in the roof, or by running it up

ventilation or 'stink' pipes. Another variation is to have your

tape player in a flat, and a long concealed audio lead to the TX

on the roof. The possibilities are endless, and most have been

tried. On one occasion Our Radio tried the 'dummy transmitter'

trick, with it's own dummy aerial, leading the hounds to one end

of the roof, while they left by another door. Inside the

transmitter box was a can of beer and a 'Booby Prize' note. In all

these cases you still need to at least remove your co-ax cable

before the baddies arrive, or of course it'll lead straight to

your TX.

B.) LOOKOUTS

You need two, preferably three, and take it in turns, and if

possible also monitor police and DTI radio channels. You can use

torches or signals from ground to roof. If on CB's turn them very

low or use headphones, and use codewords, they're very public.

Watch out for cars and vans with too many aerials, electrical gear

in the passenger seat, hanging around trying not to look

suspicious, police cars passing several times etc. Keep an eye on

nearby tower blocks or anywhere they may observe the roof with

field glasses. A raid is usually obvious, two or three cars with

uniformed police accompanying them (though piggies may be also in

an unmarked car). They usually try and rush in a side or a back

entrance, so watch out... it's quite embarrassing to have all your

friends nicked, and you still standing out front yawning! Usually

they take the lift (sometimes using a 'fireman's key' to bring it

down fast) and often send a few young ones up the stairs.

C.) CAT AND MOUSE

This involves moving and hiding the gear, in flats, stair

cupboards, lift shafts, hanging out windows, disguised at

something else, etc. Normally they have no case if they can't find

it, but under the new laws they might try to do you anyway if

you're caught. If your lookout system works you have at least 2

minutes warning before they reach the top of the tower block. You

can delay them by switching off the power in the lift room, but if

doing this be quite certain you're not trapping anyone, which is

difficult. You can call the lift immediately, and if you get them

first jam the doors open. You should practice for quick

dismantling and packing of the gear in advice. Sometimes its

easier to leave the antenna and build a new one.

A good simple 'Cat and Mouse' is to run down several flights of

stairs with the gear, hide it in a good spot (the ideal is the

flat of a 'neutral' friend) and turn into a 'normal' citizen. If

you're stopped have a good excuse for being there.

Cat and Mouse is a good system to start off with. But remember

they have done it 1000s of times before. When they become

determined to bust you you'll need more and more determined people

and new broadcasting sites to stay ahead. After a certain point

they're sure to catch you, as they learn more about you, your

faces, your habits, your tricks, and as they put more and more men

on the case. If you want to get away with it its time for a

complete change of tactics.

D.) DISAPPEARING

When the DTI are really on your tail one thing you can do is take

a weeks rest, then come back with a different name, style and

timing. Of course this fucks up your efforts to make a name for

yourselves and gain a regular audience, but at least you're still

on air, with maybe a few months grace before they start after you

again. Also change your frequency and voices on tape if possible.

E.) SWITCHING

In theory this is a good system, but you need a big team, your own

transport, and two or three transmitters (on the exact same

wavelength). The idea is this... as the police and DTI close in on

one location, the signal switches to a second site. Either you're

using links, or have copies of the programme tapes. The team at

the first site evades the police and sets off a 3rd site and sets

up. If they go for the 2nd site you switch to the 3rd site and

carry on etc. When combined to Cat and Mouse tactics this can make

you difficult to stop. The problems are, if you're using tower

blocks your choices are limited... If you set up say 5 miles away

your reception area may be completely different, and you'll need

plenty of dedicated people ready to wait night after night to play

games with the police... And when they become determined they will

still get you. We know of one South London pirate, who used

switching with apparent success, then one night all 3 of their

transmitters were seized within 15 minutes!

Switching would work better when combined and varied with other

methods of getting away with it. Particularly if you're doing a

local station, where you don't need so much height, and have lots

of more choice of broadcasting sites.

F.) GUERRILLA RADIO

This is one of the main ideas this text is trying to promote.

Guerrilla, or Hit and Run radio is the war of the flea. First of

all you can reduce the risks of getting caught drastically by

broadcasting not a fixed times or a fixed name, or by doing it

only for 1/2 hour periods. The problem of course is that your

audience is also random and small. The guerrilla idea is to get

together quite a few stations, broadcasting on the same frequency

with cheap, mass produced transmitters, thus forming one big loose

station which listeners would have a good chance of finding on

air, while being very difficult for the DTI and police to stop.

BREAK-INS

Break-ins are a higher and riskier form of guerrilla radio, as

used in Britain by Radio Arthur and Radio Wapping. The idea is to

grab your audience by broadcasting on top of a legal station. The

sentences are much higher but there's little chance of getting

caught if your break-ins short, say for five minutes, on top of

the news or advertising of a major station. You're taking

advantage of a quality of FM broadcasting that the stronger signal

tends to 'win', blotting out the weaker one completely. With a

small transmitter you'll only win for a short distance, but even a

few hundred yards could cover a whole high density estate. For

break-ins strength of signal is the main factor, a big powerful

transmitter (100 - 200 watts) tuned exactly to the required

frequency so you can break in for your message on the most popular

channel on prime time. For break-ins all precautions should be

doubled, also be sure to clear right away from the area as soon as

you've finished, and don't use the same time or broadcasting site

again. It's as simple as that.

Break-ins are also easily possible on TV, but only over the sound.

Break-ins are more common in countries where pirates have been

repressed, e.g. in Germany or the Eastern Block, and are ideal for

announcing, demonstrations etc.

There is another and better way of doing break-ins on FM, which

may have been used by Radio Arthur. This is to use the VVHF

microwave transmitter, beaming your signal at the microwave dish

receiving the signals of a legal station from their studios. Their

dish then picks up your signal, and providing you're close enough

to be stronger than their signal, you get re-broadcast by their

main transmitter, thus giving your break-ins perfect coverage

throughout their reception area.

However, we don't have technical plans to build such tricky VVHF

transmitters, and it would be quite expensive. Though this type of

break-ins is possibly at present. (To stop you fast they'd have to

switch off the entire station.) They will probably make it more

difficult by using access codes to receiver dishes, as its already

done to avoid piracy of satellite dishes. NOTE: Don't play around

with microwaves, they can be dangerous!

GOING MOBILE

In theory this is an ideal way of getting away with it, but there

are quite a few problems. If you're going in a vehicle you can use

ordinary car cassette player, but you are better off having a

separate 12 volt car battery to power the transmitter. One problem

is with the aerial. If you use a bigger, more efficient one it

will be very obvious, one possibility is to have it under a

tarpaulin on a roof rack. A bigger problem is height, unless you

can park or drive up and down on a high hill, your coverage will

be badly blocked. And then of course your reception area will vary

radically if you're driving any distance. Not much use for gaining

or developing an audience. The main advantage is that you will be

much more difficult to stop.

Going mobile is more practical as a publicity stunt, or possibly

for local broadcasts. To a small extent, having a bigger TX will

compensate for lack of height. Going mobile is good for

broadcasting at random just for the hell with it.

Doing break-ins in this way would be great fun in the rush hour

traffic.

LINKS, TIMERS, SQUARE WAVES

These aren't for the shoestring pirate, though you can build them

cheap if you have the know-how. As we said earlier links often

prevent you being busted personally, if you can afford to lose the

gear, and allow you to do live programmes. All it involves is

using a receiver instead of a cassette deck, then beaming up your

signal from your studio, or whatever, using a small UHF

transmitter (e.g. on 370 MHz) or adapted cordless telephone, or an

FM exciter on a different frequency (or even an ordinary phone

line, though sound quality suffers). You also have to make a small

directional high gain antenna. If you're using a low power link

and a narrow beam its highly impossible for the DTI to trace you,

and it was assumed to be safe to link from the studio. But

recently studios using links have been raided, in a few cases,

with every bit of equipment, furniture, record collections etc.

seized under the 1984 laws (e.g. a raid on Radio Horizon's studios

in late 1895 when over Ł20000 worth of gear was 'stolen' legally).

This may not however mean that the DTI's new gear can detect

links. It's just as easy to find your location by gossip, phone

taps or just by following you. Links can make you personally safe,

if they can trace you one you could always use two, or three, or

.... what they don't and can't do is protect your transmitter, its

main advantage is that it allows you to go live from the studio.

To protect yourself you might as well use a timer to switch the

gear on and off remotely. Timers are pretty easy to build, and you

can buy kits, but good ones are hard to find 'off the shelf' as

they can obviously be used to make bombs. A good one to buy is the

plug in variety, used for fooling burglars when you're on

holidays, or by landlords to deter squatters. For remote switching

you can also make sound activated switches, via a radio link, or

'square wave' switches, via a phone line. What none of these

devices can do however is to turn over the tape, so you still have

to go to the site to do this, unless you want to broadcast for

less than an hour.

CONFRONTATION

A good trick if you can get away with it. The DTI and police (they

normally only bring a few) are wide open to attack (the mouse

becomes the cat!) when coming to get you. The problem is that in

future you'll have to change your station name, frequency, even

your radio voice and they'll always be on your trail. The good

thing is that if pirates start attacking them they have to bring

many more police with them, and can only do it when spare police

are available. Also they are always looking over their shoulders,

and have to be more careful with their surveillance work.

One way to hit back, on tower blocks, is to trap them in the

lifts. The lookouts signals up when they're in and you throw the

main power switches in the lift room. Be careful you don't trap

residents as well. Then you take your gear down the stairs,

beating up any of them you meet on the way, and make off. Their

cars are also vulnerable, usually they're parked unguarded around

the corner. If you're going to attack them directly make sure

you're well masked and tooled up and have enough skill and numbers

to get past them. Go straight for the police officers and disable

them before they can make their 'officer in distress' call (take

or smash their radios, or have someone jamming their frequencies).

Other direct ways of hitting back are attacking the DTI at their

bases, attacking their vehicles at the depot, obtaining home

addresses / phone numbers of chief officers and harassing them

etc.

Remember they have the entire state apparatus backing them up, any

form of direct attack should therefore be anonymous and never

spoken of or boasted about later (or before!).

When the lookout signals a raid or anything very suspicious (e.g.

a cop car cruising too close too often) immediately switch off,

dismantle the gear and move it (switch off the TX first, then the

tapedeck. DON'T rip out the aerial when the TX is still switched

on!)

Building your pirate station

We're not talking here about commercial pirates, where its just a

matter of having good financial backing, popular DJ's and hit

records, plenty of ads, jingles and news replayed from legal

stations.

We're talking about the 'do-it-yourself' community or political

pirate, starting from square one, and doing something worthwhile

and original. The truth is that most commercial pirates, in their

effort to offend nobody and build towards a possible licence,

practice heavy censorship and are often as boring, banal,

repetitive, capitalist, sexist, elitist and even anti-democratic

as the legal ones, though there are few exceptions. Such pirates

are obsessed with keeping their technology secret and attacking

the competition at every opportunity.

Smaller, non-commercial pirates are in a different situation and

can only survive and develop by co-operation, with the eventual

aim of breaking the state and commercial monopoly of 'Her

Majesty's' airwaves.

YOURSELF

First thing you need is an interest in sound, and something worth

saying or playing. Get a hold of a mike and a cassette deck and

play around with it. Record yourself, record any and everything.

Listen and record off the radio, off TV, off people's stereos, in

the street. Play back your results, see where you went wrong, and

try again. Note down your results and ideas and discuss them with

others. Read everything you can find about sound and recording and

think about why you want to be a radio pirate. Join the Free The

Airwaves campaign and read their 'Radio Crimes' bulletins.

THE GROUP

You need to find more people with similar ideas, and not just

'hangers on'. You need to get to know each other well, find out

who you can trust, and ditch those you can't. Members should be

prepared to share in the tasks, risks and finances equally

according to their abilities (in practice this rarely happens).

Hold regular meetings, just keeping in touch can be a problem in

big cities. Go for maximum openness so everyone knows what is

going on. Beware of the power freaks, ego trippers, party builders

etc. who are sure to turn up sooner or later.

A good point to start is with fund raising, arranging gigs, jumble

sales, meetings, sponsored events or whatever, which can cement

your group, attract more people, and advertise your station. How

you do it depends a lot on the type of project you're doing. If

for example you're planning a minority language station (and

there's millions in Britain who have no radio in their first

language) you'll want to advertise widely through ethnic

organisations. If you're a 'revolutionary' group planning to claim

responsibility for armed actions you won't want to advertise at

all. Minority music stations are the most common. But we'd advice

you to widen and deepen your group, or join with others, if you're

going to build and maintain the commitment (and cash) to keep a

station going. Many music stations get backing from clubs, and are

the platform for the disgustingly egotistical and inane DJ's who

work in those clubs. Such solid backing is a good idea however. If

you're running a station, you'll be hard pushed to fund a raise as

well. If you see your station as a part of a wider movement (e.g.

anti-war, women, gay, anarchist, animal rights etc.) you should

try to get regular backing from that movement. Another good trick

is to siphon off small amounts of cash regularly from council,

charity or student union funded bodies which your members are

involved in. What you need is income, not a lot, even Ł20 a week

would do if regular. If some of your members have good jobs they

might be able to do it, otherwise you could be tied in with a

money making co-op or small business. One example of this is the

squatters pirates in Amsterdam, who can get a small regular income

from a fund raised by a small tax on drink in squatted pubs and

cafes.

OPEN ACCESS

Once your group is going well, and you've started to make tapes

and get the gear and cash together, you should think seriously

about teaming up with other groups who you broadly agree with (or

don't disagree). For example at the moment (late 1986) there are

dozens of such groups who have failed to get Community Radio

licences and are dying to get their stuff on air, though afraid to

'go pirate' in their present hostile climate.

The idea of 'Open Access' is to share a frequency, studios and

even transmitting gear to start with, with different groups. The

advantages are obvious... more money coming in from more sources,

less equipment needed to begin with, a pooling of technical

abilities, more political clout, more participation, bigger

audiences etc. A good way to approach this idea is by having

public meetings, contact Free The Airwaves campaign etc.

The problems come with co-ordination, political rivalry, possible

infiltration and the sharing of tasks. For an Open Access grouping

you need regular democratic meetings of all involved (at least

monthly) and insist on full attendance. You need a few good people

who are into organising it and making it work. Another problem is

with broadcasting. You should aim for everyone having their own

gear and broadcast team as soon as you can, so you will be more

difficult to stop by the police and DTI. So you should insist on

every group producing tapes providing at least two trusted people

regularly both to the broadcast team and to work on the technical

and backup side of it (building, repairing, purchasing etc.).

Open Access station depend on co-operation, if you have that then

all the other advantages come into play, but you are fighting all

the time against our training, in this society, to be competitive

and individualist. The ideas of Open Access radio have been

pioneered in this country by stations like Sheffield Peace Radio,

Our Radio and Cambridge Community Radio and its worth studying

their experience quite closely, as well as the example of such

stations and Federations of pirates in other countries. Its often

fatal to allow one person, however benevolent they may seem, to

become a leader or spokesperson for an Open Access grouping. The

straight media also love this to happen.

LOCAL / "COMMUNITY" PIRATE RADIO

The word 'community' has lost any real meaning, through misuse and

over-use (e.g. 'Community Policing'). The old style communities

are thing of the past (if they ever really existed) except on the

Soap Operas, as the system breaks us all down into individual

consumers. So if you're talking about 'Community Radio' you should

be quite clear what you mean by it, and what the State means by

proposing (and then cancelling) such an ideas. What class, ethnic,

interest, political or gender sections of the people are you

aiming your pirate radio at? Or better, creating your pirate radio

with? Or are you really working on your own career? Or trying to

create 'community' in your own head?....

Local pirate radio is a more clear idea. There are many advantages

to broadcasting locally, e.g. more broadcasting sites, harder to

get caught, room for more pirates on the broadcast band, cheaper

and easier to built transmitters, closer contact and participation

of listeners etc. In a big city it's a good idea for your station

to base yourselves in one area, whether you're broadcasting

locally or city-wide. You need a local base, and local backing,

financial if possible. If your station is appealing to one small

section of listeners it may not however make sense to do a local

station, because the potential listeners are fewer. A local

station should aim at a fairly wide section of the population. An

Open Access station would work well on a local basis, as co-

ordination would be easier, and all kinds of interest and minority

groups could be persuaded to make programmes. On a local basis

publicity and support are much easier to get, as is the

possibility of mobilising people to defend you when attacked, e.g.

a popular station in the middle of the large housing estate. Local

broadcasting in inner city areas can nevertheless involve hundreds

of thousands of potential listeners. Most of the smaller existing

pirates are, in effect, local stations, because of the limitations

of height and the power of their transmitters, though very few

allow any access or see themselves as a local voice and resource.

How to make a studio

Back to square one, you've fooled around with tapes and

microphones, but soon you're going to want your own studio. If you

have no cash don't let that stop you! Most of the gear can be

borrowed to start off with. For beginners purpose a studio is a

small room, a couple of turntables and cassette decks, a

microphone, headphones, and a small disco mixer, a plug board,

leads, some records and a table to put it all on. You'll also need

some blank cassette tapes, and sound effects records if you can

(borrow from a record library).

After that it's just practice and patience, knowing and collecting

your material, and getting more or better sound gear as you go

along.

Having said that there's plenty of tips we can give you. A

permanent room is handy. Sound proof it if you can, cardboard,

layers of carpet, egg boxes or Styrofoam are all good. Try to plan

it out before you start as to have everything within reach of the

operator(s), while having enough room for the interviews and group

work. If you build your own control desk you can drill holes and

arrange for all the leads to disappear and join underneath, much

less hassle. If you're buying cassette decks try to get something

also suitable for outdoor work. Try it out before buying, e.g.

don't get one which leaves a loud click on the recording whenever

you lift the pause button. Quality and editing are better if you

record your final product from mixer onto a reel to reel tape

recorder, though it means re-recording onto cassettes for

broadcasting, and a good cassette deck can give near as good

results and is cheaper. If buying a microphone it's worth getting

a good directional one suitable for studio and outdoor interviews,

and make sure the 'impedance' suits your mixer. A 'cheap' Ł50

disco mixer will do the job (you can even mix through some stereo

units). If you have the cash go for the flashy new Ł150 range with

built in graphic equaliser with which you can do wonders. Another

tip, keep mike leads, din leads and power leads well separate each

other and make sure everything is well earthed (from the chassis

if necessary). If you also have 'hum' problems with cassette decks

try plugging in the power lead the other way round (i.e. where it

goes into deck). Use cheap turntables, not automatics, and buy

ones which use cheap cartridges, as you'll have to replace them

often anyway. Use good quality cassette tapes however. C120's are

best for length of programme, but get the best or they'll tear or

jam. On the turntables put in your own on-off 'cue' switches, for

ease of operation. When you've 'cued' a record to where you want

to start, turn it a full turn back, by hand, to avoid slow start

up noise. Try and have an LED meter on the mixer and on the final

tape recorder, allow the needle to go just into the red for music

recording, but only half way up for speech recording. For group in

terviews an omni-directional mike can be handy, and pay special

attention to sound recording levels and background noise. Don't

use telephone in the studio. Though the phone is the lifeline of

democratic radio, in the present climate it means you'll be busted

and/or have everything in the room recorded by the police....

You really do need two turntables, and at least two cassette

decks... All these tips, and more you'll pick up as you go along,

but it's good to work out standard 'how to use the studio' for

newcomers. Pay attention to safety, e.g. have the plugboard

(fused) well out of the way, and don't allow coffee or beer near

the gear. Read a book on basic sound studios.

One last tip, lock it up well, especially if it's not in your own

home, and barricade and cover any windows. there's one sure thing

about accumulating sound gear... sooner or later someone'll nick

it!

The programme

This is entirely up to yourself. No need to follow any

conventions. Some people say have to 'master' conventional

programming before you can do something different. Other say if

you do that you'll never do anything different.

Again there are some hard learned tips for pirate. It's good to

talk with all concerned before starting, make a list of all the

possible material gathered (music, interviews, sound effects, news

items, jokes or whatever) and try to put it into some kind of

order. A signature tune or jingle isn't such a bad idea, as people

recognise the programme by it, often after they've forgotten the

name. Repeat the name of your programme often, but not too often,

along with your frequency and broadcast time. Put your important

items first (e.g. a demo next day, your appeal etc.) as it's

always possible you may be busted before the programme ends. If

you're excepting a bust put all your best material first and keep

the programme short. Use first names (false ones) and try to have

a friendly, relaxed atmosphere and give everyone present a go on

the microphone and control desk. While throwing out conventions

don't forget that we're all conditioned to quick variety and short

attention spans. Long single person interviews are not on, no

matter how interesting, but need breaking up, also remember people

are continually tuning in (and out) and if doing long pieces you

need to 'flash back' the story so far. You need variety and

interaction without sticking in jingles every 30 seconds. Try and

make it interesting / enjoyable / entertaining both for you and

the audience, otherwise why to bother?...

Style and themes are your department. It's easy on radio to get

arrogantly carried away with an idea of your own ego, or with 'in'

jokes or political hobby horse, watch out for this. Practice with

using the gear, good preparation and research make everything go

much smoothly. Background music and fading music in and out can be

very effective if done well. A large studio, tea breaks etc. help

a lot. The more time you put in the better the result (usually),

you can spend a whole night making a good one hour current affairs

programme, for instance.

More than that is hard to say, so much depends on the people, the

subject, the projected audience, the time of broadcast etc. You

should actively go out and seek feedback and opinions from people

you know have listened. Probably you won't bee able to do phone

ins and mail is slow and erratic (don't worry if you don't get a

big postbag, few stations or programmes really do). It's easy to

become cut off and feel like you're talking into a vacuum, or get

completely wrong idea of what kind of people are listening.

Making programmes is really not that hard, however bad an

inexperienced you are, you can quite easily improve on some of the

'aural shit' being pumped out by legal stations over the airwaves,

24 hours per day!

Publicity

Publicity is very important, especially when you're starting off

your new station. Of course your main publicity is to keep coming

back on air, no matter what. But if you're hoping for a minority

audience to tune in specially you need to advertise a lot where

those people are likely to see or read it. Be warned, there's no

real tradition in this country for large scale support for

pirates, and people often tend to consume the media i.e. forget

instantly they switch off. It could take you long time to build up

the regular, participate audience, and the solid support you need

to attract new blood, break even financially etc.

If you're a local station your publicity is obviously a lot

easier, and you can poster, graffiti, or even leaflet your entire

reception area. If you're a wider station make sure you're always

mentioned in the 'what's on' papers and get articles or interviews

into any paper likely to support you. Send out regular press

releases to the local and national press, and try to cultivate

contacts among the slimy reptiles (journalists). Almost any

publicity is good, as those people likely to listen in to you will

also likely read behind the bias of Tory press. Oddly, one place

you should certainly seek publicity is on radio, try for instance

getting onto phone ins. On radio you are already talking to people

who listen to it! TV, if you can find any way to stunt to get onto

it, is the most powerful publicity and you should certainly court

the bastards running the local TV news, this kind of appearance

really does stick in people's minds and start them talking...

Strangely enough the media are not overly hostile to pirates,

providing you're just an oddity, not a direct threat. Many media

workers hate the shit they're forced to produce and admire the

'romantic' pirates. You should play on this for all it's worth,

and always try and get your frequency and broadcast times across.

They will sometimes put you on, as an interesting item. Remember

that pirate radio is a 'victimless crime'!

If you're mainly a music station you should publicise where people

listen to that type of music, if you have your own club, of

course, you're laughing. Join Free The Airwaves and get publicity

in their paper. Write articles for radio pages, and do benefit

gigs, public meetings, media stunts, whatever you can manage.

Choose a catchy, hard hitting name for your station. If you're

doing political stuff they're going to go for you anyway, so you

might as well get value for effort!

Remember, if you want to be a participatory station, you'll have

to go out and seek feedback. Get out on the street and do

interviews whatever you can. Take along your cassette recorder to

every type of event, the more different voices and views the

better.

Building up your pirate station

It's hard to give advice about longer term development, but

there's a few things worth saying. First of all it's important to

pace yourselves. It's easy to start off with a lot of enthusiasm,

then get busted off the air, or just burnt out with too much work

or too few people. However good or different you are you will be

very lucky to build up a regular audience or mass support

overnight. Though your potential number of listeners may be huge

you can except response to be slow. Breaking down passive

consumption of the media is not easy. Having your own clubs,

events, regular demos etc. helps, as do dramatic publicity stunts.

You need to work out what you're aiming at. We say support, par

ticipation and a large number of listeners is a good aim. But you

may just be broadcasting as a way of pressuring for a licence

(which is a bit of a sell-out and a pipedream). Ideally you should

plan ahead and gradually increase your broadcasting times, while

developing all aspects of your station, rather than going all out

and then collapsing at the first bust. The best advice then is to

operate well within your capabilities, and to join up with any

other pirates who are not commercial and not racist, sexist or

fascist. Your longer term aim, as a pirate, should be to reach a

situation where you have so much support (money, volunteers,

transmitters, listener support etc.) that the state just cannot

wipe you out at will. The best hope for pirates is to swamp the

forces of repression by sheer numbers, as happened, at different

times, in Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Italy, and now, it

seems, in Spain. This does not imply chaos, but co-operation,

federations and sharing of the available airwaves and times. The

swamping the airwaves is NOT going to be caused by the commercial

pirates, hogging, hiding and mystifying the technology and even

sabotaging each other. However if we do manage to start a non-

commercial movement of pirates capable of doing this then

commercial pirates will jump onto the airwaves, with more power,

and try to force us off. This would be a major problem.

It is a mistake and an excuse to blame the Tories and the new

draconian laws for the lack of alternative pirates in Britain. The

main thing stopping us is the lack of any strong combative

movement (whether it be workers, women, anarchist, or whatever) in

which to build a big wave of pirates, though there are literally

millions of symphatetic people about.

Medium wave

ADVANTAGES AND PROBLEMS

At the moment FM broadcasting, with all its advantages, is the

favourite for pirates. But it's well worth pointing out that at

least 25% of radio receivers in Britain can't even receive FM, so

you can't pick up most pirates on older radios. Another thing, in

some hilly areas FM broadcasts have a very bad coverage area. And

a third advantage, you can cover a very much bigger area on MW, at

least potentially. MW can be the best choice for you, especially

if you're in a country area, or in hills or mountains, or only

want to broadcast by day and aren't too worried about sound

quality. MW transmitters are also fairly cheap and easy to build,

and because you use a crystal there's no problem with tuning or

with 'sprogs' (harmonics). Though the antenna is a huge length

it's just a roll of wire, and doesn't necessarily have to be up

high, which gives you a quite different, if still limited, range

of possible broadcasting sites. MW works by bouncing radio waves

back off the stratosphere, not by line of sight like FM.

Of course there's lots of other disadvantages, one is sound

quality, and stereo is out of the question, and there's not much

free space on the wave band, chiefly because of a host European

stations, which become stronger at night, blotting your relatively

weak signal (this is due to atmospheric changes we are told). The

TX is also bigger and heavier (about 12" x 8" x 6") and you'll

probably need to use car batteries.

One thing I forgot, if you want to reach any of the 50000

prisoners in Brit. jails, you must use MW, FM is still banned in

prison, for some typically petty reason.

It is also agreed that you're generally less likely to get busted.

In the present repressive climate that's well worth considering.

How to broadcast on MW (540 - 1600 kHz)

YOUR TRANSMITTER

Enough general talk. So you want to broadcast on MW. So here's how

to do it. First your transmitter. Medium Wave transmitters aren't

so hard to build, any good amateur radio buff could do it, and

there's people around who will build them (reckon to spend Ł100 to

Ł150). The technology is tried and tested and our design is as

good as any. The TX is valve operated and you use a crystal (which

you have to order on the chosen wave length) which keeps you on

frequency without the problems of FM. So you have to decide from

the start which frequency you're going for and stick to it, or buy

a new crystal. When choosing your frequency remember that it must

be divisible by 9... MW frequencies are separated by 9 kHz by

international treaty. If your signal doesn't conform you'll prob

ably have the DTI and police down on you faster. If you have

problems getting a MW transmitter you may be able to buy a kit or

adapt an amateur radio transmitter.

ADAPTING A MW TRANSMITTER

I'm not exactly an expert on this and the following info comes

from the US. Apparently you can easily buy second hand radio ham

transmitters and adapt them. The best to go for is the Viking

Valiant (200 watt) or the Viking Ranger (75 watt), both made by

Johnson & Co. These ham radios are well built, have excellent

audio and moreover have built in VFO's (variable frequency oscilla

tors) which make them simple to modify to work on the top end of

the AM band. All you need to do the RF (radio frequency) circuits

is to add capacitance to the 160 metre tuned circuits. And all you

must do to the audio circuits is to bypass the first pre-amp

(assuming you're using a line level instead of a mike level). One

other thing, you must bypass the speech frequency filter, which is

located between the 2nd pre-amp and the driver.

When buying such a 2nd hand ham transmitter: A) Get one with 160

metre capability. B) Don't pay more than Ł100 for one(???). C)

Make sure it has plate modulation (look inside and check there are

two transformers well separated from each other). D) Don't get a

'kit built' one with dodgy wiring and if possible check the valves

before buying, they're rather costly.

SETTING UP YOUR AERIAL (MW)

Security precautions and preparation are the same as for FM. But

there the similarity ends. For a start your total aerial length is

1/4 your wavelength, so if your wavelength was 200 metres, for in

stance, your aerial would be 50 metres long! You use a ordinary

thin single strand wire. Buy a roll, keep it on the roll and

measure it out, metre by metre. Ideally the aerial would point

straight up, but that's just not feasible, unless you hang it out

from the side of a tower block or a steeple, or suspend it from a

balloon (only the balloon blows away). The normal method is the

'dogleg' which works just fine. The ideal site is a field, or

deserted common land, far away from houses, with two tall trees

(only 2 if possible, poplars are best) about 30 to 40 metres

apart. Now string the 'dogleg' between the trees and down to your

TX without touching branches or leaves. Sounds impossible? If you

have a trained monkey that's just fine. Otherwise try our method.

Practice and patience is necessary.

Bring along with you a catapult, a long reel of 70 lb. strength

fishing line, a plenty of lead fishing weights (not too heavy for

the catapult). Also some small plastic rings (cut out lids of

plastic containers work fine).

Tie one end of the fishing line to a lead weight, leaving the line

coiled neatly and loosely on a piece of bare ground. Then fore the

lead weight from the catapult right over the centre of a tree! Go

and search for it (don't try this at night). Tie on your plastic

ring in place of the weight and pass about 30 metre of your aerial

wire through the ring. Now get your mate to pull the other end of

the fishing line, if it doesn't get tangled pull it till the ring

is about 5 metres from the tree top. Tie the fishing line securely

(to the tree), cut it, and head for the second tree. Repeat the

performance, firing right over the tree from the far side. Pull

the aerial end through, and this time tie it to the ring. Pull up

as before to about 5 m from the top and tie the line. Now back to

the roll of aerial wire (extended with fishing line as necessary)

and start pulling it in till it's suspended without touching the

trees! It's hard to get it just right so the aerial reaches your

TX and is tight, adjust fishing line lengths and / or position of

TX. Better choose two trees too far apart than too close. When you

finally get it all set it's hardly worth taking it down again

after the broadcast, though you should loosen it off or it'll snap

in the wind. Disguise it if possible. A further problem can be

with kids and passers by, disguise your actions, bringing along

fishing rods or a kite is a good ploy. One of the best broadcast

sites is a clearing in a large wood. On Medium Wave remember, you

can go right outside the city and still cover it and lots more

besides.

SETTING UP THE GEAR

The transmitter should be on wet ground. If it's dry, wet it. Mud

is good stuff. The aerial wire should be taut all the way. Bushes

are an advantage, for concealment, but don't let any touch the

aerial. Your power supply is a 12 volt car battery. Bring two,

well charged up, if you're broadcasting for more than few hours,

medium wave uses a lots of power. If your TX is on mains (240 VAC)

you'll have to get it adapted using a 'rotary invertor', it's not

difficult. A lorry battery is the real thing, but what a drag to

carry! If there's a chance to go on mains, by running a line from

somewhere, you should go for it. Otherwise wear old clothes and

gloves against acid spills. When choosing your site balance the

need for remoteness with the problems of moving the gear.

The transmitter must be very well earthed, the earth is an

essential part of the aerial system. Use a ring of metal stakes

(e.g. tent stakes) and file off any rust or dirt for good

connections. Attach the stakes securely to the chassis of your TX,

with the thick metal straps or wires held by butterfly nuts or

strong clean battery clips.

So far so good. The cassette player, on the contrary, should be

off the ground, on a box or whatever. As usual keep the audio

lead, battery leads and aerial wire as far apart as possible. The

cassette player is normally powered by a 6 volt motor bike

battery, with suitable leads. Torch batteries are dear and have a

pathetic lifespan.

SWITCHING ON

Connect up your batteries, load up your cassette player with a

'trial tape' and you're ready to go.

1) Turn tuning adjuster to the right till the meter gives the

lowest reading.

2) Turn 'load' adjuster till meter rises about 50 milliamps.

3) Tune again till it drops about 25 mA.

4) Load up again as above.

5) Carry on procedure till you get a load of about 150 mA on a 20

W transmitter, or 100 mA on a 10 W rig. Your last tuning

adjustment should produce virtually no dip on the meter needle.

6) Adjust modulation in relation to other channels to get your

best sound. Use a radio receiver held at least 50 yards away for

testing.

7) If there is crackling, knocking or bad sound, repeat from the

beginning. Check that your stakes are in well damp ground, that

all lines are well separated, that aerial isn't touching trees,

hold receiver further away etc.

If you've done all the above you should be broadcasting loud and

clear. If your signal is still wretched chances are your crystal

is burnt out, or something is blown. Then go home.

If all is well, switch off and await the time of your programme is

due to start. Don't detach aerial wire with the TX still turned

on.

PACKING UP

When you're finished, switch off immediately. Then disconnect

everything and pack into holdalls or large plastic bag. Be

especially careful carrying the TX with it delicate valves. You

should have several sites, and switch as often as you can. Don't

re-use a site after an attempted bust. If you have a good dry safe

stash and are coming back best leave your transmitter, cassette

deck and leads there, and just take the batteries back for

recharging. Such a stash should be in cover, be quite sure a hid

den watcher or bod with binoculars couldn't spot you stashing the

gear. It's likely that the DTI will send in men to sneak up and

watch you, prior to planning a bust, so be careful, even when not

on air, don't relax till safely home.

WHEN ON AIR, PRECAUTIONS (MW)

Read the FM chapter 'How to get away with it'. A lot of those

precautions also apply.

At a MW site your chances should be much better, you need on

person just to stay near the TX, in case of kids, passers by etc.

and to grab or hide it fast when they get the danger signal. On

many sites you can work out lookout points to give plenty of

warning. However you might as well abandon the batteries, and

certainly the aerial, if you have to run far. If you have

transport or good escape routes you can try a clean getaway, but

safer method is to hide the gear well (not too close to the aerial

if it's left up) and beat it. We favour bunkers, holes pre-dug and

lined with waterproofs, under rocks, with heavy lids covered with

earth and bushes. In theory they could find these with dogs or

metal detectors, but we've never heard of them succeeding or even

trying (you could always bury bits of metal all over the place).

The possibilities are unlimited, if you're on the ball there's no

reason they should get the gear... and without that they have a

lousy case against you.

Busts.... If all goes wrong

You're nicked. What you say to them depends on the circumstances.

If they haven't got you, deny it point blank, give them your cover

story and a verifiable address, and stick to your story no matter

what. The problem with this is if they have nicked others and they

give different stories, a different name for you etc. Best discuss

all this beforehand. If caught on the hop, best say you don't know

any of the others. You're caught in the act or with the gear. Give

them a verifiable name and address and refuse to discuss the

matter further. No matter what. People have managed to get off in

the past, even with the gear in their hands, but under the new

laws this is unlikely.

Although they can arrest and charge you, illegal broadcasting is

still normally treated as a 'summons offence', which means they

question you, let you go (eventually), then summons you by letter

to appear in court. This opens possibilities of getting away with

it - you may be able to bullshit them with a false name etc.

(though they can now hold you on suspicion of doing this for three

days). They will normally 'ask to accompany to the station', or if

they've raided your flat may interrogate you there and then. If

you refuse to go to the station they will arrest you (for

obstruction, insulting words, suspicion of stealing electricity

etc.) and take you there, where you can be interviewed by the

police and DTI. The 'pretext charge' is often dropped later. When

interviewed on the station it's better really to refuse to say

anything, especially if there are several of you, cover stories

usually fall apart under long and detailed questioning. However

silence usually means they will hold you longer. If they get you

to the station they are pretty certain to photograph and

fingerprint you. You can't refuse under the Police Bill.

When nicked your best bet is to remain calm.

Demand to ring your solicitor. Don't panic, it's not the end of

the world. Smile at the bastards. Have a good kip in the cell -

you've done your best.

Fighting your case

It's usually months before your summons arrives, if they decide

they have a case. Get legal aid if at all possible, and a good

solicitor who knows the, by now, pretty complex legal situation.

Plead NOT GUILTY, but beware if you have money, they may award

costs against you if you lose. Get your Bust Fund together, with

gigs, jumble, radio appeals, donations all round etc. It's good to

campaign about your bust on the air if your station is still

going. Most commercial (read conservative) pirates don't do this,

carrying their bid for respectability so far as to ignore their

own best weapon. Make sure the address you gave when arrested is

'clean', they could possibly raid you to look for further

evidence. If you're a political station watch out for suspicious

break-ins where nothing is stolen, the Branch often do this.

Get your story straight, get witnesses to write out their

statements together, make copies and give them to your solicitor.

Don't trust your solicitor too far, they sometimes say 'plead

guilty' just to save themselves trouble, if he/she starts getting

cold feet get yourself a new one (they don't like this at all but

it can be done). Get your solicitor to ask for copies of the

prosecutions witness statements in advance of the case and make

sure you see them. In court dress neatly and be polite to the

bastard (magistrate) and the filth. Have a good 'hard luck' story

for your solicitor to tell, it's always good to say you're just

getting married, starting a new job etc., but don't say you have

money or the fines will be bumped up higher. If you're going to

'bend the truth' a little don't tell your solicitor you're doing

it, and be sure friends watching in court don't start laughing!

The DTI and police will lie anyway, more likely than not, get your

witnesses to focus on these lies and your solicitor to cross ques

tion them closely, especially any police witnesses, who are more

stupid and inexperienced in this kind of case. Demonstrations

outside the court are good publicity and can intimidate the

magistrate if big enough, but don't always help your case (e.g. if

you're pleading 'dumb bystander' how come all these people are so

concerned about you?). If you want press, send out Press Releases

at least a week in advance, so the hacks can put it in their

diaries, and phone sound with reminders the day before.

Your fine should be paid by the Bust Fund if at all possible. If

not, extra costs should be divided up among everyone in the

station (always plead poverty and ask for time to pay).

When you've been busted once you shouldn't, ideally, work on the

broadcasting end again, though you could still do lookout, backup,

monitoring etc., as second offenders normally get the maximum

fine.

If you win the case, as quite often happens, have a good party!

If you win there is also some possibility, in theory of claiming

the gear back, though this is much less likely under the new laws.

Ask your solicitor about it, and there's a chance get someone

else, with some kind of receipt, to apply for it, saying they'd

bought it before the bust.

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